Weight Loss Basic Informations

First, we should be clear about what is meant by 'obese' and 'overweight'. You are said to be obese if your body weight exceeds 20 per cent more than the average desirable weight for a person of your height and is defined in terms of an excess of body fat. Overweight describes people whose weight is ten per cent greater than the average desirable weight. A rough guide is whether you can pinch a fold of flesh just below your navel: if it is an inch or more than you are overweight.

Of course, a muscular person may be overweight while having a very low percentage of fat, so body weight alone is not an accurate gauge of obesity. The body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body weight that takes account of a person's height. It is calculated by dividing the weight of an individual in kilograms by their height in metres squared. There are five main levels of BMI: 19 or less is considered underweight; 20-25 is the norm; 2630 is overweight; 31-40 is obese; and 41 and more is severely obese.

On the basis of these categories, it is estimated that about one third of all patients who visit their doctor are overweight. A BMI of more than 30 is considered to pose a significant risk to health.

Obesity is the third most common complaint in the West after tooth decay and coronary artery disease. Results of recent surveys of British adults revealed that there had been a three-fold increase in the number of clinically obese women; that 50 per cent of women were dieting; and that half of those women had abandoned a diet before reaching their target weight.

   

despite a recommendation that the fat content of the diet should provide only 35 per cent of calories - and ideally as little as 30 per cent - the average was 40 per cent and that included an unacceptably high proportion of saturated (animal) fats;
   

consumption of cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolate was increasing, particularly among women;
   

consumption of alcohol was increasing, providing 'empty' calories of no nutritional value;
   

an increasing number of meals were eaten out and these tended to have a higher sugar content but include less protein and fibre and fewer vitamins and minerals than the daily diet. Of concern was an increased consumption of cheap take-aways with a high saturated-fat content;
   

despite a recommended daily intake of 30-35g of fibre, only a sixth of women, for example, were eating as much as 25g;
   

the amount of exercise taken daily was decreasing. Half of those 65 and over took no exercise at all. Thirty per cent of adults did some vigorous activity, but only six per cent did enough to benefit their health.

The stark fact is that, according to insurance statistics from both the USA and Britain, obesity is related to mortality: a severely obese person is three times more likely to die than a person of average weight. And that risk is greater still if the person smokes. There is also a significantly higher risk of the following serious conditions:

   

cardiovascular disease such as heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke;
   

late-onset diabetes, which affects people over the age of 40 whose body tissues develop a resistance to insulin. Obese people are five times more at risk than those of average weight;
   

gallstones, which may be precipitated by a high concentration of cholesterol in the bowel (fatty tissue is a cholesterol reservoir);
   

impaired fertility and complications during pregnancy;
   

breathlessness on exertion;    

complications under general anaesthetic;    

osteoarthritis of weight-bearing joints, particularly in the back, hips and knees;    

cancers of the breast, uterus, ovary and cervix, and possibly the prostate, which may result from disturbances in the balance between male and female hormones caused by enzymes in fatty tissue;    

accidents that are the result of slower movement, when crossing the road for example.

Obesity occurs over time as net energy intake exceeds net energy output. Overeating and a lack of exercise are the most common causes. Other underlying causes, such as hypothyroidism, are relatively rare, but a number of physiological and psychological explanations have been put forward to explain simple obesity.

   

Genetic tendency:
      Studies of adopted children have revealed a link between the weight status of the children and that of their biological parents that cannot be explained by environmental factors. Environmental influences are not insignificant, however, and a family history of obesity doesn't mean that the condition cannot be treated.
   

Eating habits:
      Obese people are often said to eat larger, more infrequent meals and to eat their food more quickly than other people, but there is no basis for this in fact.
   

Reduced metabolic rate:
      Also contrary to popular belief, obese people do not have a slower metabolic rate (see below). The body's 'tick over' speed increases, in fact, the greater the weight you are carrying around.
   

Inappropriate response to hunger:
      Children are believed to be able to adjust their intakes of high- and low-calorie foods in order to maintain a fairly constant calorie content in the diet. Adults, on the other hand, seem less able to do this.
   

Toxins:
      Fat requires a lot of energy to be broken down and it becomes a convenient 'dump' for all sorts of fat-soluble toxins. Fat delays their transit through the bowel so more toxins are absorbed. If there are a lot of toxins circulating in the body, some people believe, more fat may be laid down in order to deal with them. A high-fibre diet, as well as the avoidance of toxic substances, will remedy this.
   

Fatigue:
      A lack of sleep may also delay the excretion of toxins from the body (see above).
   

Emotional starvation:
      Food becomes (subconsciously) a compensation for whatever is missing in a person's emotional experience.
   

Fear of responsibility:
      A person's fear of dealing with relationships leads them to become fat or thin, and therefore less attractive, in order to avoid involvement.
   

Comfort eating:
      Food is commonly perceived as comforting, when someone has been bereaved for example.
   

Taking control:
      This may occur if a person has been following a strict diet and feels the need to break out of the regime to such an extent that they overcompensate and overeat.
   

Acquired helplessness:
      This is the attitude that you have little control over your life so, for instance, if you eat in a canteen at work then you cannot control what you eat and neither therefore can you control your weight. Food can thus become a substitute answer for a range of emotional problems and can become the basis for the compulsive eating found in many overweight people.
   

Marketing:
      Certain groups of people are particularly vulnerable to the power of advertising, especially as food products such as butter and sugar are still marketed as 'natural', and therefore by implication 'good'. The UK has the second-highest consumption of chocolate in Europe.

How much fat your body stores is largely determined by four factors:

   

your appetite and the amount and types of food that you eat;
   

the amount of exercise that you do;
   

your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is the energy that is required for the working of all body systems and the maintenance of body temperature when at rest. It decreases with age but increases if you gain weight. It reduces correspondingly if you go on a reduced-calorie diet as the body perceives this as starvation conditions. Vigorous exercise also increases the BMR.
   

the amount of heat produced when the body metabolically processes calories. This is also increased by exercise and the consumption of certain food 'fuels'.

You obviously have a great deal of control over the first two factors listed above and a much lesser degree over the third. It is not known to what extent factor four may be influenced.

In compulsive eaters the trigger for eating is not hunger but emotional need. Eating as a response to an emotional cue is learnt in childhood, when food means comfort in the sense of being looked after. In adults, however, comfort eating brings transitory emotional relief and is often superseded by guilt, self-criticism and attempts at strict dieting. The latter is doomed to failure because of the individual's low self-esteem and the fact that food is associated with an attempt to satisfy an emotional need, not just hunger. Eventually they will rebel against the self-denial imposed by strict dieting and they will binge. Thus starts a cycle.

   

If you find yourself in such a cycle and you wish to break free, consider the following:
   

self-criticism and a punishing dieting regime will not bring about lasting beneficial changes in your eating habits;
   

dieting will not satisfy your emotional needs, only your hunger;
   

try to think positively about your body and do not feel guilty about your need for comfort;
   

try to recognize your problems for what they are rather than disguising them through their association with eating;
   

try to relate to hunger as a physiological urge rather than an emotional cue.